Israel will not allow establishment of Palestinian state: Minister

WASHINGTON

Israel will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, a minister said Tuesday, after US President Joe Biden warned that Israel is losing global support over its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza.

"We respect and cherish the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who went out of his way during the most difficult period of the State of Israel. This is true friendship. But we live here, this is our country. The historical property of our ancestors,” said Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.

"There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never allow another state to be established between Jordan and the (Mediterranean) sea," Karhi added.

His remarks came after Biden said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must change his government, which Biden described as "the most conservative government" in Israel's history.

Referring to the Oslo Accords, a set of agreements reached in the 1990s between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which established a peace process for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a mutually negotiated two-state solution, Karhi said: "We will never go back to Oslo.

"In the words of President Biden: 'The security of the Jewish people is at stake here.' Definitely yes. A Palestinian state would endanger him."

Netanyahu admitted that there is a disagreement with Biden regarding the “post-Hamas” Gaza Strip, stressing that he would not allow Israel "to repeat the mistake of Oslo."

Netanyahu opposes US efforts to allow the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip following the end of the ongoing Israeli war on the blockaded territory. Washington argues that there must be a Palestinian authority or government in Gaza in the post-war period.